7 months ago

7 months ago

7 months ago

Billy D… isney World?

Breaking news on all the major sites today is that Billy Donovan has been offered $42M over seven years to leave the University of Florida to become the new head coach of the Orlando Magic. According to team officials, as reported by the Orlando Sentinel, the wunderkind is expected to take the job. This comes on the heels of a week-plus of speculation as to why Donovan had not yet signed an extension worth reported $3.5M annually with the Gators.

We’ve been down this road before with Billy D. – a mere six weeks ago, in fact. But somehow with the ridiculous dollars being mentioned and the “nowhere to go but down” aspect looming at Florida, we think this might be the situation where he makes the jump. The Magic certainly isn’t in terrible shape, with a young beast Dwight Howard and, lest we forget, JJ Redick, to build around.

From our perspective, this would also change the balance of power in the SEC in a hurry. Florida has the #1 ranked recruiting class coming into Gainesville, but it’s apparent that the new blood at Tennessee and Kentucky are hot on its tail. The big question for us – who would take over for Billy D.? Would the Gators gamble Stan Heath-style with one-year wonder Anthony Grant from VCU? Or speaking of Heath, would the Gators make a play for former recruiter extraordinaire and current Arkansas coach John Pelphrey? Or would they go outside the family and find someone like Gregg Marshall from Winthrop? Stay tuned…

Update: Yahoo.com is now reporting Donovan will be introduced as the Orlando Magic head coach tomorrow morning at 9am. Terms are $28.5M over five years.